U.S. patent application number 15/519561 was filed with the patent office on 2017-08-31 for portable terminal, method of controlling portable terminal, and recording medium.
The applicant listed for this patent is Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha. Invention is credited to Kiyotaka TAKIZUKA, Yu YUMURA.
Application Number | 20170251337 15/519561 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 56879425 |
Filed Date | 2017-08-31 |
United States Patent
Application |
20170251337 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
TAKIZUKA; Kiyotaka ; et
al. |
August 31, 2017 |
PORTABLE TERMINAL, METHOD OF CONTROLLING PORTABLE TERMINAL, AND
RECORDING MEDIUM
Abstract
An object of the present invention is to measure a current
position at appropriate timing and perform a predetermined process
at a predetermined position. In a case where it is detected that a
portable terminal (100) has entered a region in which the portable
terminal (100) can make a radio communication with an access point
(50), current positional information of the portable terminal (100)
is obtained, and in a case where the portable terminal (100) is at
a predetermined position, a predetermined process is performed.
Inventors: |
TAKIZUKA; Kiyotaka; (Sakai
City, JP) ; YUMURA; Yu; (Sakai City, JP) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha |
Sakai City, Osaka |
|
JP |
|
|
Family ID: |
56879425 |
Appl. No.: |
15/519561 |
Filed: |
February 8, 2016 |
PCT Filed: |
February 8, 2016 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/JP2016/053680 |
371 Date: |
April 17, 2017 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04M 2250/10 20130101;
H04W 64/00 20130101; H04M 1/7253 20130101; H04W 8/005 20130101;
Y02D 70/142 20180101; H04W 48/12 20130101; H04W 84/12 20130101;
Y02D 30/70 20200801; H04W 4/023 20130101; H04W 52/0241 20130101;
Y02D 70/164 20180101; H04M 1/72572 20130101; Y02D 70/144 20180101;
H04W 52/02 20130101; H04M 2250/06 20130101 |
International
Class: |
H04W 4/02 20060101
H04W004/02; H04W 8/00 20060101 H04W008/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Mar 6, 2015 |
JP |
2015-045313 |
Claims
1. A portable terminal which performs a process in accordance with
a predetermined range in a case where it is specified that the
portable terminal is within the predetermined range, said portable
terminal comprising: a detection section configured to detect the
portable terminal having entered a radio communication region of a
device registered beforehand, based on the detection section having
received a signal from the device; a positional information
obtaining section configured to obtain current positional
information of the portable terminal in a case where the detection
section detects the portable terminal having entered the radio
communication region; and a position specifying section configured
to determine whether the portable terminal is within the
predetermined range based on the current positional information
obtained by the positional information obtaining section.
2. The portable terminal as set forth in claim 1, further
comprising a storage section which stores therein identification
information for the device, the detection section deletes the
identification information from the storage section, in a case
where (i) the detection section detects the portable terminal
having entered the radio communication region of the device and
(ii) the position specifying section determines that the portable
terminal is not within the predetermined range.
3. The portable terminal as set forth in claim 1 or 2, wherein the
detection section detects the portable terminal having left the
radio communication region, based on the detection section having
no longer received any signal from the device, and in a case where
the portable terminal has left the radio communication region, the
position specifying section obtains current positional information
of the portable terminal and then determines, based on the current
positional information, whether the portable terminal is present
within the predetermined range or not.
4. The portable terminal as set forth in claim 3, wherein the
position specifying section obtains the current positional
information of the portable terminal, (i) in a case where a given
length of time has elapsed since the portable terminal left the
radio communication region or (ii) in a case where the portable
terminal is moving after the portable terminal left the radio
communication region.
5. A method of controlling a portable terminal, the method causing
the portable terminal to perform a process in accordance with a
predetermined range, the portable terminal being specified that the
portable terminal is within the predetermined range, said method
comprising the steps of: (i) detecting the portable terminal having
entered a radio communication region of a device registered
beforehand, based on a reception of a signal from the device; (ii)
obtaining current positional information of the portable terminal
in a case where the portable terminal having entered the radio
communication region is detected in the step (i); and (iii)
specifying that the portable terminal is within the predetermined
range in a case where a position indicated by the current
positional information obtained in the step (ii) is within the
predetermined range.
6. A control program for causing a computer to function as a
portable terminal as set forth in claim 1, the control program
causing the computer to function as the detection section and the
position specifying section.
Description
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] The present invention relates to a portable terminal which
measures its position at appropriate timing, a method of
controlling the portable terminal, and the like.
BACKGROUND ART
[0002] Recently, positional information obtained by portable
terminals such as smart phones, mobile phones, and tablet terminals
has been used for various purposes. For example, increasing number
of applications use positional information obtained by the portable
terminals, and various services are provided according to positions
indicated by positional information.
[0003] Much of the portable terminals have a GPS (Global
Positioning System) function in order to obtain positional
information. A portable terminal having the GPS function measures
its current position by receiving radio waves from GPS satellites.
However, there is a problem that use of the GPS function requires
large power consumption. Accordingly, if a portable terminal driven
by a built-in battery etc. always or frequently uses the GPS
function, the portable terminal will suffer a decrease in its
available time.
[0004] There have been provided techniques for subduing power
consumption required by use of the GPS function. An example of such
techniques is described in Patent Literature 1. Patent Literature 1
describes a positional information detecting device which subdues
power consumption required in detection of its position by changing
the interval for detecting its position depending on a place where
a user who carries around a portable terminal is present, thereby
efficiently detecting the position of the user. According to this
technique, for example, in a case where the user who carries around
the portable terminal is positioned in a place distant from a place
where the user wishes to detect the user having arrived, the
interval for measurement is made longer so that useless measurement
is made as little as possible, and in a case where the user is
positioned near the place where the user wishes to detect the user
having arrived, the interval for measurement is made shorter so
that arrival to the place can be detected as soon as possible.
CITATION LIST
Patent Literature
[Patent Literature 1]
[0005] Japanese Patent Application Publication, Tokukai, No.
2006-166421 (published on Jun. 22, 2006)
[Patent Literature 2]
[0006] Japanese Patent Application Publication, Tokukai, No.
2014-192813 (published on Oct. 6, 2014)
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
Technical Problem
[0007] However, the above conventional technique has a problem
below.
[0008] In the technique disclosed in Patent Literature 1, in a case
where a user carrying around a portable terminal is positioned
distantly from the place where the user wishes to detect the user
having arrived, the portable terminal can reduce useless
measurement by decreasing frequency in measuring the position of
the portable terminal. However, in a case where the user comes near
the place where the user wishes to detect the user having arrived,
the portable terminal measures its position frequently.
Consequently, for example, in a case where the user keeps on moving
near the place where the user wishes to detect the user having
arrived, there is a possibility that the portable terminal
frequently makes an unnecessary measurement, resulting in
significant power consumption of a battery built in the portable
terminal.
[0009] The present invention was made in view of the foregoing
problem. An object of the present invention is to provide a
portable terminal which obtains positional information at
appropriate timing, thereby accurately specifying the current
position while subduing power consumption, a method of controlling
the portable terminal, and the like.
Solution to Problem
[0010] In order to solve the foregoing problem, a portable terminal
in accordance with an aspect of the present invention is a portable
terminal which performs a process in accordance with a
predetermined range in a case where it is specified that the
portable terminal is within the predetermined range, said portable
terminal including: a detection section configured to detect the
portable terminal having entered a radio communication region of a
device registered beforehand, based on the detection section having
received a signal from the device; a positional information
obtaining section configured to obtain current positional
information of the portable terminal in a case where the detection
section detects the portable terminal having entered the radio
communication region; and a position specifying section configured
to determine whether the portable terminal is within the
predetermined range based on the current positional information
obtained by the positional information obtaining section.
[0011] In order to solve the foregoing problem, a method in
accordance with an aspect of the present invention of controlling a
portable terminal is a method of controlling a portable terminal,
the method causing the portable terminal to perform a process in
accordance with a predetermined range, the portable terminal being
specified that the portable terminal is within the predetermined
range, said method including the steps of: (i) detecting the
portable terminal having entered a radio communication region of a
device registered beforehand, based on a reception of a signal from
the device; (ii) obtaining current positional information of the
portable terminal in a case where the portable terminal having
entered the radio communication region is detected in the step (i);
and (iii) specifying that the portable terminal is within the
predetermined range in a case where a position indicated by the
current positional information obtained in the step (ii) is within
the predetermined range.
Advantageous Effects of Invention
[0012] According to the aspects of the present invention, it is
possible to obtain positional information at appropriate timing,
thereby accurately specifying the current position while subduing
power consumption.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
[0013] FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a
schematic configuration of a portable terminal in accordance with
Embodiment 1 of the present invention.
[0014] FIG. 2 is a drawing illustrating an example of a data
structure of access point identification information.
[0015] FIG. 3 is a drawing illustrating an example of a data
structure of registered positional information.
[0016] FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example flow of a
process of registering an access point for Wi-Fi in a portable
terminal at home.
[0017] FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example flow of a
process of measuring a current position of a portable terminal in
response to a connection with an access point for Wi-Fi in a
registered arrival detection place.
[0018] FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example flow of a
process of measuring a current position of a portable terminal in
response to a disconnection from an access point for Wi-Fi in a
registered departure detection place.
DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS
Embodiment 1
[0019] The following description will discuss Embodiment 1 in
accordance with the present invention. Embodiment 1 exemplifies a
portable terminal 100 which has a positioning function such as a
GPS function and is capable of measuring its current position. The
portable terminal 100 is capable of making a radio communication
with an access point (AP) 50 (device), in a radio communication
region of the access point 50 such as Wi-Fi (registered trademark)
and Bluetooth (registered trademark). Examples of the portable
terminal 100 can encompass a mobile device, which moves with a
user, such as a smart phone, a mobile phone, and a tablet terminal.
The portable terminal 100 can, however, not be limited to a
specific communication terminal, provided that (i) it has a
function of obtaining its positional information and (ii) it can
make a radio communication with the access point 50. Embodiment 1
will discuss an example in which the portable terminal 100 measures
its current position in response to a connection with the access
point 50. Such a connection is, however, not limited as such. A
connection with any device, which can make a radio communication
with the portable terminal 100, is applicable to the present
invention.
(Configuration of Portable Terminal 100)
[0020] The portable terminal 100 measures its position (makes a
positional measurement) with use of the GPS function in response to
a connection with the access point 50 which is used in a place
where a user wishes to detect the user having arrived (hereinafter
referred to as "arrival detection place"). Then, the user
determines whether the portable terminal 100 has arrived at the
arrival detection place (within a predetermined range). The arrival
detection place occupies a range having a certain degree of expanse
(predetermined range). In a case where the portable terminal 100
has arrived at such a range, it determines that the user of the
portable terminal 100 has arrived at an arrival detection place.
The access point 50 is located near the arrival detection place.
Accordingly, in a case where the portable terminal 100 is within a
range within which the portable terminal 100 can make a radio
communication via the access point 50 (radio communication region),
the portable terminal 100 can be considered as having arrived at
the arrival detection place or as being near the arrival detection
place.
[0021] Note, however, that (i) access points 50 are also located in
places other than the arrival detection place and (ii) movable
access points 50 are also located (e.g. access points of a portable
type). Accordingly, a connection with an access point 50 does not
always mean that the portable terminal 100 has arrived at an
arrival detection place.
[0022] For this reason, the portable terminal 100 measures its
position in response to a connection with the access point 50 so as
to confirm whether the portable terminal 100 has arrived at the
arrival detection place. This allows a reduction in the number of
times of obtaining positional information as compared with the
technique of Patent Literature 1 described in the Background Art.
This ultimately allows the portable terminal 100 to consume lower
amounts of power. Furthermore, the portable terminal 100 accurately
measures its current position with use of the GPS function. As
such, the portable terminal 100 can correctly determine whether the
portable terminal 100 is in its arrival detection place, with use
of a simpler configuration than the technique of Patent Literature
2 described in the Background Art.
[0023] The following description will first discuss, with reference
to FIG. 1, a configuration of the portable terminal 100 in
accordance with Embodiment 1 of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a
block diagram illustrating an example of a schematic configuration
of the portable terminal 100. In FIG. 1, a single access point 50
is illustrated. The number of the access points 50 is, however, not
limited as such. Two or more access points 50 can be employed. That
is, the number of access points 50 which can be connected with the
portable terminal 100 can be arbitrary.
[0024] The portable terminal 100 includes a control section 10, a
storage section 20, a radio communication section 30, and a
positional information obtaining section 40. Note that the portable
terminal 100 further includes an operation input section, an audio
output section, an audio input section, a display section, various
sensors etc., which are not illustrated and described. This is
because they are not directly related to features of Embodiment
1.
[0025] The control section 10 totally controls functions of the
portable terminal 100. A configuration of the control section 10
will be detailed later.
[0026] The storage section 20 is a storage device which stores
therein various data used by the portable terminal 100. In
Embodiment 1, the storage section 20 stores therein at least access
point identification information 21 and registered positional
information 22.
[0027] The access point identification information 21 is
identification information unique to the access point 50 for
wireless communication such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, which is used
for each arrival detection place. Note that the following
description will discuss an example in which an MAC address (Media
Access Control Address) is employed as the identification
information of the access point 50. The identification information
is not limited to a specific one, provided that it can identify the
access point 50. For example, SSID (Service Set Identifier) etc.
can be employed.
[0028] On the other hand, the registered positional information 22
includes (i) positional information indicative of an arrival
detection place and (ii) information specifying processes to be
performed in a case where a user arrives at respective arrival
detection places. The access point identification information 21
and the registered positional information 22, which are stored in
the storage section 20, will be described later with reference to
specific examples.
[0029] The radio communication section 30 is provided so that the
portable terminal 100 makes a radio communication with another
device, and operates under control by a connection control section
11 (later described).
[0030] The positional information obtaining section 40 is
controlled by the control section 10 to receive positional
information indicative of a current position (place) of the
portable terminal 100 from, for example, a GPS satellite 60. The
positional information received by the positional information
obtaining section 40 is not limited to positional information
received from the GPS satellite 60, provided that the positional
information indicates a current position. For example, the
positional information can be positional information received from
a positioning satellite system of any country, instead of the GPS
satellite 60.
(Configuration of Control Section 10)
[0031] Next, the following description will discuss a configuration
of the control section 10. The control section 10 includes the
connection control section 11, an access point checking section 12
(detection section), a positional information confirmation section
13 (position specifying section), and a process performing section
14.
[0032] The connection control section 11 controls communications
via the radio communication section 30. For example, the connection
control section 11 (i) establishes and maintains a connection made
between the portable terminal 100 and the access point 50 and (ii)
disconnects the portable terminal 100 from the access point 50. To
be more specific, in a case where the connection control section 11
starts to make a radio connection, the connection control section
11 detects a signal which is being broadcasted within a
predetermined range from an access point 50, and transmits a
connection request to the access point 50. The connection control
section 11 receives, as a response to the connection request
transmitted to the access point 50, a signal including
identification information (MAC address) unique to the access point
50. The connection control section 11 establishes, via the access
point 50, a radio communication connection with use of the received
MAC address. Note that the connection control section 11 can
automatically transmit such a connection request or can transmit
the connection request in a case where it has accepted a user's
input operation (instruction for connection).
[0033] The connection control section 11 extracts the MAC address
(identification information) of the access point 50, and then
transmits the extracted MAC address to the access point checking
section 12. The MAC address is included in the signal received from
the access point 50 with which the portable terminal 100 has made a
connection.
[0034] In a case where the access point checking section 12
receives, from the connection control section 11, first
identification information of the access point 50 with which the
portable terminal 100 has made a connection, the access point
checking section 12 checks and determines whether the first
identification information coincides with second identification
information, of the access point 50, which is beforehand stored in
(registered in) the access point identification information 21 of
the storage section 20. In a case where the first identification
information coincides with the second identification information,
the access point checking section 12 instructs the positional
information confirmation section 13 to obtain positional
information indicative of a current position (to measure the
current position). On the other hand, in a case where the first
identification information does not coincide with the second
identification information, the access point checking section 12
does not give any instruction to the positional information
confirmation section 13.
[0035] Upon receipt of an instruction from the access point
checking section 12, the positional information confirmation
section 13 causes the positional information obtaining section 40
to operate so as to obtain, from the positional information
obtaining section 40, positional information indicative of the
current position of the portable terminal 100. The positional
information confirmation section 13 determines whether or not a
position, indicated by the positional information obtained from the
positional information obtaining section 40, is located within a
predetermined range which includes a place indicated by positional
information stored beforehand in the registered positional
information 22. Namely, the positional information confirmation
section 13 determines whether the user has arrived at its arrival
detection place. For example, the positional information
confirmation section 13 can compare a first position, indicated by
the positional information obtained from the positional information
obtaining section 40, with a second position of the arrival
detection place which second position is stored in the registered
positional information 22 so as to determine whether or not the
user is in its arrival detection place based on whether or not a
difference between the first position and the second position falls
within a preset error range.
[0036] In a case where the positional information confirmation
section 13 determines that the user has not arrived at its arrival
detection place (i.e., the user is in a place other than its
arrival detection place), the MAC address, which the access point
checking section 12 used while the checking, can be deleted from
the access point identification information 21. This is because it
has become apparent that (i) the MAC address does not correspond to
an access point 50 provided in the arrival detection place and the
user is in a place other than its arrival detection place or (ii)
the MAC address corresponds to an access point 50 of portable
type.
[0037] Such deletion of the unnecessary MAC address as above makes
it possible to prevent a useless positioning in the future.
[0038] In a case where the positional information confirmation
section 13 determines that the user has arrived (is present) at an
arrival detection place which has been stored beforehand in the
registered positional information 22, the process performing
section 14 performs a process corresponding to the arrival
detection place. Processes to be performed in the respective
arrival detection places have been specified beforehand in the
registered positional information 22.
[0039] The user having arrived (being) at its arrival detection
place can be accurately determined with use of the positional
information. Accordingly, the process performing section 14 can
perform a predetermined process, enable a predetermined function,
and/or provide a predetermined service, only for a user who is
within a predetermined range which includes the arrival detection
place. The process performed by the process performing section 14
will be later instantiated.
(Access Point Identification Information 21)
[0040] The following description will discuss the access point
identification information 21 with reference to FIG. 2. FIG. 2 is a
drawing illustrating an example of a data structure of the access
point identification information 21.
[0041] In FIG. 2, (i) a plurality of arrival detection places and
(ii) MAC addresses of the respective access points 50
(identification information of the access points) in the arrival
detection places are registered such that each of the plurality of
arrival detection places and a corresponding one of the MAC
addresses are associated with each other. For example, a place A
registered as an arrival detection place is registered so as to be
associated with the MAC address (a1:a1:a1:a1:a1:a1) of the access
point 50 in the place A. Similarly, a place B is registered so as
to be associated with the MAC address (b1:b1:b1:b1:b1:b1).
Similarly, a place B', a place C etc. are registered so as to be
associated with MAC addresses of the access points 50 used at the
respective places as identification information of the access
points 50 at the respective places. Each of the "place A," the
"place B" . . . in FIG. 2 can be any information which is capable
of identifying a corresponding arrival detection place. For
example, each of the "place A," the "place B" (i) can be a name
used when a user registered a corresponding access point 50 in a
corresponding arrival detection place, (ii) can be an address or a
place name of a corresponding place, (iii) can be positional
information obtained at a corresponding place with use of the GPS
function, or (iv) can be a name, set by a user, such as "home."
"a1:a1:a1:a1:a1:a1", "b1:b1:b1:b1:b1:b1" etc. are merely conceptual
expressions of the MAC addresses of the access points 50, and MAC
addresses to be registered can be expressed in any form.
[0042] The places B and B' can be places related to each other,
such as two different places in a large scale commercial facility
and different branch stores of the same chain store. More specific
examples include (i) a case where the places B and B' are "east
entrance of department B" and "west entrance of department B",
respectively and (ii) a case where the places B and B' are "store B
in front of the station" and "store B at 3-chome", respectively.
Note, here, that the description exemplifies a case in which each
place corresponds to a single access point 50. The present
invention is, however, not limited to as such. For example, a
plurality of MAC addresses can be registered for a single arrival
detection place.
(Registered Positional Information 22)
[0043] The following description will discuss, with reference to
FIG. 3, the registered positional information 22 stored in the
storage section 20. FIG. 3 is a drawing illustrating an example of
a data structure of the registered positional information 22. As
illustrated in FIG. 3, the registered positional information 22 can
be a table which specifies correspondences between (i) respective
positional information of arrival detection places and (ii)
respective processes to be performed in the respective arrival
detection places.
[0044] The access point identification information 21 and the
registered positional information 22 share a record of the arrival
detection place in common. For example, the arrival detection place
"place A" of the access point identification information 21 is
equal to the arrival detection place "place A" of the registered
positional information 22. Accordingly, combined use of the access
point identification information 21 and the registered positional
information 22 makes it possible to identify, for each arrival
detection place, an MAC address of the access point 50, positional
information, and a process to be performed. Note that the access
point identification information 21 and the registered positional
information 22 can be stored in a single table.
[0045] According to FIG. 3, (i) information indicative of the
latitude and longitude of the place A is registered as positional
information of the place A and (ii) a process of enabling a
service/function of outputting a sound of a great volume is
registered as a process to be performed by the process performing
section 14 at the place A. The place A can be, for example, a
user's home. This causes the service/function of outputting a sound
of a great volume to be automatically enabled while the user is at
home.
[0046] Information indicative of the latitude and longitude of the
place B is registered as positional information of the place B, and
a process of receiving guidance on a facility is registered as a
process to be performed by the process performing section 14 at the
place B. The place B can be, for example, a commercial facility.
This causes a user to automatically receive guidance on the
commercial facility while the user is visiting the commercial
facility.
[0047] Note that a predetermined process to be performed by the
process performing section 14 is not limited to the examples shown
in FIG. 3, provided that the predetermined process is a process
regarding an arrival detection place, e.g. a process which is
meaningful to perform when a user has arrived at a predetermined
place or while the user is being in the predetermined place. For
example, in a case where the arrival detection place is a user's
home, the user's portable terminal 100 can perform (i) a process of
"automatizing all user identification (personal identity
verification)," (ii) a process of "causing a display screen to
display so that user's personal information and user's likes and
tastes are reflected," and (iii) a process of "enabling an input of
an operational instruction via audio output." Alternatively, for
example, in a case where the arrival detection place is a
commercial facility, a user's portable terminal 100 can perform a
process of "enabling acceptance of distribution of information on
commodities dealt with there," or a process of "enabling acceptance
of distribution of coupon".
[0048] FIG. 3 exemplifies a case where a correspondence relation
for each of the arrival detection places between corresponding
positional information and a corresponding process to be performed
has been specified beforehand. The present invention is, however,
not limited to as such. For example, there may be performed a
process of adding information, in the arrival detection place,
which specifies (i) positional information of an arrival detection
place and (ii) a process to be performed in the arrival detection
place and/or a process of updating such added information in the
arrival detection place. This makes it possible to smoothly modify
a predetermined process specified in the registered positional
information 22.
(Flow of Process in which Access Point 50 in Arrival Detection
Place is Registered in Portable Terminal 100)
[0049] The following description will discuss, with reference to
FIG. 4, a flow of a process of registering, in the portable
terminal 100, (i) an access point (AP) 50 in an arrival detection
place and (ii) an MAC address. The following description
exemplifies a case where the arrival detection place is a user's
home. FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example flow of a
process of registering, at home, the access point 50 for Wi-Fi in
the portable terminal 100. This process causes the access point
identification information 21 to be stored. Note that, even in a
case where an arrival detection place is other than home (e.g.
commercial facility, sightseeing facility, work place etc.), it is
possible to register an access point 50 and an MAC address by use
of a process similar to the process illustrated in FIG. 4.
[0050] In a case of registering an access point 50 for Wi-Fi at
home, the positional information confirmation section 13 causes the
positional information obtaining section 40 to measure a position
of the portable terminal 100 with use of the GPS function, and
obtains positional information which results from a measurement
made by the positional information obtaining section 40 (S1).
Trigger for obtaining positional information in S1 can be set
arbitrarily. For example, positional information can be obtained in
response to an acceptance of user's operational input.
Alternatively, positional information can be obtained at regular
time intervals (e.g. 3 hours). Alternatively, positional
information can be obtained for every predetermined moving distance
(e.g. 1,000 m). Alternatively, positional information can be
obtained for every predetermined number of steps (e.g. 2,000
steps).
[0051] Next, based on the positional information obtained from the
positional information obtaining section 40, the positional
information confirmation section 13 determines whether the current
position is the user's home (S2). In S2, a first position indicated
by the position information thus obtained is compared with a second
position of the user's home indicated by the registered positional
information 22. It can be then determined whether or not the
current position is the user's home, based on whether or not a
difference between the first position and the second position falls
within a predetermined error range. Alternatively, the positional
information confirmation section 13 can make a determination in S2
by urging the user to enter whether the user is at home. In this
case, the user can be urged to enter information by, for example,
displaying a message for confirming whether the user is at
home.
[0052] In a case where the positional information confirmation
section 13 determines in S2 that the current position is the user's
home (YES in S2), the positional information confirmation section
13 instructs the access point checking section 12 to register the
MAC address of the user's home. In cases where (i) the access point
checking section 12 receives the instruction and (ii) a connection
with Wi-Fi is confirmed (YES in S3), the access point checking
section 12 obtains, from the connection control section 11, an MAC
address of the access point 50 which is being connected with Wi-Fi.
Then, the access point checking section 12 stores (registers), in
the access point identification information 21, the MAC address
thus obtained as the MAC address of the user's home (e.g. place A
in FIG. 2) (S4).
[0053] Note, however, that even in a case of the MAC address
registered in the access point identification information 21 at the
user's home as above, there is a possibility that the MAC address
is that of the access point 50 of a portable type which the user
carries around. As such, there is a possibility that the MAC
address is not that of the access point 50 in the user's home.
Accordingly, it is not always correct to understand that the user
is currently at home, merely based on the fact that the MAC address
of the user's home, which address is registered in the access point
identification information 21, is identical to the MAC address of
the access point 50 with which the portable terminal 100 is
currently connected. Therefore, the portable terminal 100 measures
its position in response to a connection with the access point 50,
and then confirms whether the portable terminal 100 has arrived at
the arrival detection place.
(Flow of Process of Measuring Current Position in Response to
Connection with Access Point 50 in Arrival Detection Place)
[0054] The following description will discuss, with reference to
FIG. 5, a flow of a process of measuring a current position of the
portable terminal 100 in response to a connection with the access
point 50 in an arrival detection place. FIG. 5 is a flowchart
illustrating an example flow of a process of measuring a current
position of the portable terminal 100 in response to a connection
with the access point 50 for Wi-Fi in a registered arrival
detection place. Note, here, that an example in which an arrival
detection place is a user's home is described.
[0055] In a case where the portable terminal 100, which is carried
around the user, gets connected with an access point 50 for Wi-Fi
(S 11), the connection control section 11 obtains, via the radio
communication section 30, an MAC address of the access point 50
with which the portable terminal 100 is connected, and then
transmits the MAC address thus obtained to the access point
checking section 12. Then, the access point checking section 12
checks and determines whether the MAC address received from the
connection control section 11 coincides with an MAC address which
is registered in the access point identification information 21 so
as to be associated with an arrival detection place (user's home in
this example) (S12, detection step). In a case where a plurality of
arrival detection places are registered in the access point
identification information 21 as in the example of FIG. 2, the
access point checking section 12 determines whether an MAC address,
which coincides with the MAC address received from the connection
control section 11, is registered.
[0056] Note that the access point checking section 12 can make a
determination in S12 (i) immediately after the MAC address of the
access point 50 is obtained or (ii) at a time when a radio
communication becomes available via the access point 50.
[0057] In a case where the access point checking section 12
determines in S12 that the MAC address received from the connection
control section 11 is different from the MAC address which is
registered in the access point identification information 21 so as
to be associated with the user's home (NO in S12), the flow
illustrated in FIG. 5 is ended. On the other hand, in a case where
the access point checking section 12 determines in S12 that the MAC
address received from the connection control section 11 coincides
with the MAC address which is registered in the access point
identification information 21 so as to be associated with the
user's home (YES in S12), the access point checking section 12
instructs the positional information confirmation section 13 to
obtain positional information. Upon receipt of such an instruction,
the positional information confirmation section 13 causes the
positional information obtaining section 40 to make a measurement
of a current position of the portable terminal 100 with use of the
GPS function, and then obtains positional information which results
from such a measurement (S13, positional information obtaining
step). Next, the positional information confirmation section 13
determines whether the user is currently at home, based on the
positional information indicative of the current position which
information has been obtained from the positional information
obtaining section 40 (S14, position specifying step).
[0058] In a case where the positional information confirmation
section 13 determines in S14 that the user is currently at home
(YES in S 14), the positional information confirmation section 13
notifies the process performing section 14 that the user is at home
(has arrived at home). Then, the process performing section 14 thus
notified performs a process specified in the registered positional
information 22 as a process to be performed at home (S15), and the
flow illustrated in FIG. 5 is ended.
[0059] On the other hand, in a case where the positional
information confirmation section 13 determines in S14 that the user
is currently not at home (NO in S14), the positional information
confirmation section 13 notifies the access point checking section
12 that the user is currently not at home. The access point
checking section 12 thus notified deletes, from the access point
identification information 21, the record (combination of the
arrival detection place and the MAC address) used during the
checking in S12 (S16), and the flow illustrated in FIG. 5 is
ended.
Embodiment 2
[0060] The portable terminal 100 of Embodiment 1 exemplifies the
case where the portable terminal 100 measures its current position
in response to the connection with the access point 50 in an
arrival detection place so as to determine whether a user has
arrived at its arrival detection place, and performs a
predetermined process. However, the present invention is not
limited to the case exemplified by Embodiment 1. For example, the
portable terminal 100 can measure its current position in response
to a disconnection from the access point 50 in a place, where a
user wishes to detect the user having departed (hereinafter
referred to as "departure detection place"), so as to determine
whether the user is in a place (in a predetermined range) other
than the departure detection place, and then performs a
predetermined process in accordance with a detected result. The
following description will discuss such an embodiment with
reference to FIG. 6. For convenience, members having functions
identical to those described in Embodiment 1 are given identical
reference numerals, and explanations thereof are omitted.
(Flow of Process of Measuring Current Position in Response to
Disconnection from Access Point 50 in Departure Detection
Place)
[0061] The following description will discuss, with reference to
FIG. 6, a flow of a process of measuring a current position of the
portable terminal 100 in response to a disconnection from an access
point 50 in a departure detection place. FIG. 6 is a flowchart
illustrating an example flow of a process of measuring a current
position of the portable terminal 100 in response to a
disconnection from the access point 50 for Wi-Fi in the user's
home, which access point 50 has been registered. The following
description will discuss an example in which the departure
detection place is a user's home.
[0062] In a case where the portable terminal 100 carried around by
the user gets disconnected from an access point 50 for Wi-Fi (S21),
the connection control section 11 transmits to the access point
checking section 12, via the radio communication section 30, an MAC
address of the access point 50 from which the portable terminal 100
gets disconnected. Then, the access point checking section 12
checks and determines whether the MAC address received from the
connection control section 11 coincides with an MAC address which
is registered in the access point identification information 21 so
as to be associated with the departure detection place (user's home
in this example) (S22, detection step). A plurality of departure
detection places can be registered in the access point
identification information 21, as with the case of the arrival
detection places in the example of FIG. 2.
[0063] In a case where the access point checking section 12
determines in S22 that the above two MAC addresses do not coincide
with each other (NO in S22), the flow illustrated in FIG. 6 is
ended. On the other hand, in a case where the access point checking
section 12 determines in S22 that the above two MAC addresses
coincide with each other (YES in S22), the access point checking
section 12 instructs the positional information confirmation
section 13 to obtain positional information. The positional
information confirmation section 13 thus instructed causes the
positional information obtaining section 40 to measure a current
position with use of the GPS function, and then obtains positional
information which results from the measurement made by the
positional information obtaining section 40 (S23, positional
information obtaining step). Then, the positional information
confirmation section 13 determines whether at present the user has
left the user's home, based on the positional information,
indicative of the current position, which has been obtained from
the positional information obtaining section 40 (S24, position
specifying step).
[0064] In a case where the positional information confirmation
section 13 determines in S24 that the user is currently not at home
(NO in S24), the positional information confirmation section 13
notifies the process performing section 14 that the user has left
(departed from) the user's home. The process performing section 14
thus notified performs a process specified, in the registered
positional information 22, as a process to be performed when the
user has left the user's home (S25), and the flow illustrated in
FIG. 6 is ended.
[0065] On the other hand, in a case where the positional
information confirmation section 13 determines in S24 that the user
is currently at home (YES in S24), the flow illustrated in FIG. 6
is ended.
[0066] In a case where a departure detection place is set to be
broader than a range within which the access point 50 in the
departure detection place can make a communication, the portable
terminal 100 is still in the departure detection place when the
portable terminal 100 has got disconnected from the access point
50. It follows that, in a case where the positional information
confirmation section 13 has obtained positional information
immediately after a determination in S22, there is a possibility
that the portable terminal 100 cannot detect the user having left
the user's home. In view of the circumstances, the process in S23
can be performed after a given length of time (e.g. 5 minutes) has
elapsed since a determination was made in S22. Alternatively, the
process in S23 can be performed after the portable terminal 100 is
confirmed to be moving. Note that whether the portable terminal 100
is moving can be confirmed by using sensor information received
from, for example, an acceleration sensor (not illustrated), a
geomagnetic sensor (not illustrated) etc. included in the portable
terminal 100.
[0067] There is a possibility that it is not possible to correctly
determine that the portable terminal 100 is currently outside
(within a predetermined range) a departure detection place (user's
home in this example), in a case of merely detecting the portable
terminal 100 having left a range within which the portable terminal
100 can make a radio communication via an access point 50. This is
because a case is envisioned where the access point 50 is a movable
one. Accordingly, it is necessary that positional information is
obtained so that whether the portable terminal 100 has left a
departure detection place is correctly determined. Note, however,
that it is desirable that the number of obtaining positional
information is held down so that power consumption is subdued.
[0068] According to the above arrangement, in a case where the
portable terminal 100 has departed from the range within which the
portable terminal 100 can make a radio communication via the access
point 50 registered beforehand, current positional information on
the portable terminal 100 is obtained and it is determined whether
the portable terminal 100 is outside the user's home or not. This
allows positional information to be obtained only when it is
detected that the portable terminal 100 has departed from the range
within which the portable terminal 100 can make a radio
communication via the access point 50, thereby specifying that the
user is currently outside the user's home. Accordingly, obtainment
of positional information is made at appropriate timing and use of
the positional information can be reduced, so that it is possible
to subdue power consumption of the portable terminal. Such an
arrangement is effective when it is desired to perform a
predetermined process outside the user's home.
Embodiment 3
[0069] For example, (i) in a case where a portable terminal 100
accepts a user's operation of switching between enabling and
disabling of a radio communication function of the portable
terminal 100 or (ii) in a case where the portable terminal 100
accepts a user's turn-on or turn-off operation of the portable
terminal 100, there is a possibility that a radio communication is
connected or disconnected between the portable terminal 100 and the
access point 50, regardless of (a) the user arriving at an arrival
detection place or (b) the user leaving a departure detection
place. Similarly, (i) in a case where the portable terminal 100
undergoes a transition to a sleep state or (ii) in a case where the
portable terminal 100 undergoes a transition from a sleeping state
to an operating state, it is likely that a radio communication is
connected or disconnected between the portable terminal 100 and the
access point 50. Measuring a position of the portable terminal 100
is likely to be useless in such a case where no movement of the
user is involved.
[0070] In view of the circumstances, the access point checking
section 12 is configured to further detect whether the portable
terminal 100 is moving. The positional information confirmation
section 13 can therefore be configured to obtain current positional
information of the portable terminal 100, (i) in a case where a
movement of the portable terminal 100 is detected before a
connection of the portable terminal 100 with the access point 50 is
detected or (ii) in a case where a movement of the portable
terminal 100 is detected before a disconnection of the portable
terminal 100 from the access point 50 is detected. With the
configuration, even in a case where the connection control section
11 has detected (i) a connection of the portable terminal 100 with
the access point 50, (ii) a disconnection of the portable terminal
100 from the access point 50, or (iii) a reconnection of the
portable terminal 100 with the access point 50, the portable
terminal 100 will not obtain any positional information, as long as
the above (i), (ii), or (iii) has not been detected while the
portable terminal 100 and a user have been moving together. Whether
the portable terminal 100 is moving can be determined by using
sensor information received from, for example, an acceleration
sensor (not illustrated), a geomagnetic sensor (not illustrated)
etc. included in the portable terminal 100.
[0071] The following description will discuss, with reference to
FIG. 5, an example flow of a process of the portable terminal 100
in accordance with Embodiment 3. For convenience, steps performing
processes identical to those of the steps which have already been
described are not explained here.
[0072] In S12 in FIG. 5, the access point checking section 12
checks and determines whether an MAC address received from the
connection control section 11 coincides with an MAC address which
is registered in the access point identification information 21 so
as to be associated with an arrival detection place (user's home in
this example). In a case where the access point checking section 12
determines that the above two MAC addresses coincide with each
other (YES in S12), the access point checking section 12 obtains
sensor information from the acceleration sensor (not illustrated),
the geomagnetic sensor (not illustrated) etc., and confirms whether
the portable terminal 100 is currently moving or not (movement
confirmation step). In a case where the portable terminal 100 is
currently moving, the access point checking section 12 instructs
the positional information confirmation section 13 to obtain
positional information. The positional information confirmation
section 13 thus instructed causes the positional information
obtaining section 40 to measure the current position of the
portable terminal 100 with use of the GPS function, and obtains
positional information which results from the measurement by the
positional information obtaining section 40 (S13).
[0073] Similar processes can be performed in S22 and S23 in FIG.
6.
Embodiment 4
[0074] Control blocks (especially, the connection control section
11, the access point checking section 12, the positional
information confirmation section 13, and the process performing
section 14) and the position information obtaining section 40 of
the portable terminal 100 can be realized (i) by a logic circuit
(hardware) provided in an integrated circuit (IC chip) or the like
or (ii) by software as executed by a central processing unit
(CPU).
[0075] In the latter case, the portable terminal 100 includes a CPU
that executes instructions of a program that is software realizing
the foregoing functions; a read only memory (ROM) or a storage
device (each referred to as "storage medium") in which the program
and various kinds of data are stored so as to be readable by a
computer (or a CPU); and a random access memory (RAM) in which the
program is loaded, and the like. An object of the present invention
can be achieved by a computer (or a CPU) reading and executing the
program stored in the storage medium. Examples of the storage
medium encompass "a non-transitory tangible medium" such as a tape,
a disk, a card, a semiconductor memory, and a programmable logic
circuit. The program can be supplied to the computer via any
transmission medium (such as a communication network or a broadcast
wave) which allows the program to be transmitted. Note that the
present invention can also be achieved in the form of a computer
data signal in which the program is embodied via electronic
transmission and which is embedded in a carrier wave.
[Summary]
[0076] A portable terminal 100 in accordance with aspect 1 of the
present invention is a portable terminal which performs a process
in accordance with a predetermined range in a case where it is
specified that the portable terminal is within the predetermined
range, said portable terminal including: a detection section
(access point checking section 12) configured to detect the
portable terminal having entered a radio communication region of a
device (access point 50) registered beforehand, based on the
detection section having received a signal from the device; a
positional information obtaining section 40 configured to obtain
current positional information of the portable terminal in a case
where the detection section detects the portable terminal having
entered the radio communication region; and a position specifying
section (position information confirmation section 13) configured
to determine whether the portable terminal is within the
predetermined range based on the current positional information
obtained by the positional information obtaining section.
[0077] In a case where a portable terminal has entered a radio
communication region of a device registered beforehand, there is a
high possibility that the portable terminal is within a
predetermined range. However, since there can be a case where the
device is a movable device, there is a possibility that merely
detecting that the portable terminal has entered the radio
communication region of the device does not make it possible to
correctly determine that the portable terminal is currently within
the predetermined range. Accordingly, in order to correctly
determine that the portable terminal is currently within the
predetermined range, it is desirable to obtain positional
information. Furthermore, since a portable terminal is in general
driven by a built-in battery etc., it is desirable to reduce the
number of obtaining positional information so as to subdue power
consumption.
[0078] According to the above aspect, in a case where the portable
terminal receives a signal from the device registered beforehand
and it is detected that the portable terminal has entered the radio
communication region of the device, the portable terminal obtains
its current positional information and determines whether the
portable terminal is within the predetermined range or not. This
makes it possible for the portable terminal to obtain positional
information only in a case where it is detected that the portable
terminal has entered the radio communication region of the device,
thereby specifying that the portable terminal is currently within
the predetermined range. Accordingly, obtainment of positional
information is made at appropriate timing and the number of use of
the positional information is reduced, so that it is possible to
subdue power consumption of the portable terminal.
[0079] A portable terminal in accordance with aspect 2 of the
present invention may be an arrangement of the aspect 1, further
comprising a storage section 20 which stores therein identification
information for the device, the detection section deletes the
identification information from the storage section, in a case
where (i) the detection section detects the portable terminal
having entered the radio communication region of the device and
(ii) the position specifying section determines that the portable
terminal is not within the predetermined range.
[0080] According to the above aspect, in a case where (i) the
portable terminal detects the portable terminal having entered the
radio communication region of the device based on the
identification information of the device and determines that the
portable terminal is not within the predetermined range, the
portable terminal deletes the identification information from the
storage section. This makes it possible to prevent, subsequently,
useless obtainment of positional information based on the
identification information of the device which can move from within
the predetermined range.
[0081] A portable terminal in accordance with aspect 3 of the
present invention may be an arrangement of the aspect 1 or 2,
wherein the detection section detects the portable terminal having
left the radio communication region, based on the detection section
having no longer received any signal from the device, and in a case
where the portable terminal has left the radio communication
region, the position specifying section obtains current positional
information of the portable terminal, and then determines, based on
the current positional information, whether the portable terminal
is present within the predetermined range or not.
[0082] There can be a case where the device is movable one.
Accordingly, there is a possibility that merely detecting that the
portable terminal has departed from the radio communication region
of the device does not make it possible to correctly determine that
the portable terminal is currently within the predetermined range.
Accordingly, positional information is obtained in order to
correctly determine whether the portable terminal is within the
predetermined range or not. It is desirable that the number of
obtaining positional information is small in order to subdue power
consumption.
[0083] According to the above aspect, in a case where the portable
terminal has departed from the radio communication region of the
device registered beforehand, the portable terminal obtains its
current positional information and determines whether the portable
terminal is present the predetermined range or not. This makes it
possible for the portable terminal to obtain positional information
only in a case where it is detected that the portable terminal has
departed from the radio communication region of the device, thereby
specifying that the portable terminal is currently within the
predetermined range. Accordingly, obtainment of positional
information is made at appropriate timing and the number of use of
the positional information is reduced, so that it is possible to
subdue power consumption of the portable terminal.
[0084] A portable terminal in accordance with aspect 4 of the
present invention may be an arrangement of the aspect 3, wherein
the position specifying section obtains the current positional
information of the portable terminal, (i) in a case where a given
length of time has elapsed since the portable terminal left the
radio communication region, or (ii) in a case where the portable
terminal is moving after the portable terminal left the radio
communication region.
[0085] In a case where positional information is obtained
immediately after it is detected that the portable terminal has
departed from the radio communication region, there is a
possibility that it cannot be correctly determined whether the
portable terminal is within the predetermined range or not.
[0086] According to the above aspect, (i) in a case where a given
length of time has elapsed since it was detected that the portable
terminal left the radio communication region, or (ii) in a case
where the portable terminal is determined as moving after it was
detected the portable terminal departed from the radio
communication region, current positional information of the
portable terminal is obtained. This makes it possible for the
portable terminal to obtain positional information at timing when
the portable terminal has completely moved into the predetermined
range or at timing when it is confirmed that the portable terminal
is moving into the predetermined range. Such an aspect is
effective, for example, in a case where it is desired that a
predetermined process is performed at a place distant from the
radio communication region.
[0087] A method in accordance with aspect 5 of the present
invention of controlling the portable terminal 100 is a method of
controlling a portable terminal, the method causing the portable
terminal to perform a process in accordance with a predetermined
range, the portable terminal being specified that the portable
terminal is within the predetermined range, said method comprising
the steps of: (i) detecting the portable terminal having entered a
radio communication region of a device (access point 5) registered
beforehand, based on a reception of a signal from the device (S12,
S22); (ii) obtaining current positional information of the portable
terminal in a case where the portable terminal having entered the
radio communication region is detected in the step (i) (S13, S23);
and (iii) specifying that the portable terminal is within the
predetermined range in a case where a position indicated by the
current positional information obtained in the step (ii) is within
the predetermined range (S14, S24). The above aspect yields an
effect similar to that of the aspect 1.
[0088] The portable terminals in accordance with the aspects of the
present invention may be realized by a computer. In this case, the
present invention also encompasses a control program for a portable
terminal which program causes a computer to operate sections
(software elements) of the portable terminals so as to realize the
portable terminals by the computer, and a computer-readable storage
medium in which the control program is stored.
[0089] The present invention is not limited to the embodiments, but
can be altered by a skilled person in the art within the scope of
the claims. An embodiment derived from a proper combination of
technical means each disclosed in a different embodiment is also
encompassed in the technical scope of the present invention.
Further, it is possible to form a new technical feature by
combining the technical means disclosed in the respective
embodiments.
INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY
[0090] The present invention is usable for an electronic device
movable with a user.
REFERENCE SIGNS LIST
[0091] 10 Control section [0092] 11 Connection control section
[0093] 12 Access point checking section (detection section) [0094]
13 positional information confirmation section (position specifying
section) [0095] 20 Storage section [0096] 40 Positional information
obtaining section [0097] 50 Access point (device) [0098] 100
Portable terminal [0099] S12, S22 Detection step [0100] S13, S23
Positional information obtaining step [0101] S14, S24 Position
specifying step
* * * * *